I don’t agree that the null hypothesis: take the ring and do nothing with it is evil.
My definition of evil is coercion leading to loss of resources up to and including loss of one’s self.
Thus absolute evil is loss of one’s self across humanity which includes as one use case humanity’s extinction (but is not limited to humanity’s extinction obviously because being converted into zimboes isn’t technically extinction..)
Nobody can argue that the likes of Gaddafi exist in the human population: those who are interested in being the total boss of others (even thought they add no value to the lives of others) to the extent that they are willing to kill to maintain their boss position.
I would define these people as evil or with evil intent. I would thus state that I would like under no circumstances somebody like this to grab the ring of power and thus I would be compelled to grab it myself.
The conundrum is that I fit the definition of evil myself. Though I don’t seek power to coerce as an end in itself I would like the power to defend myself against involuntary coercion.
So I see a Gaddafi equivalent go to grab the ring and I beat him to it.
What do I do next?
Well I can’t honestly say that I have the right to kill the millions of Gaddafi equivalent but I think that on average they add a net negative to the utility of humanity.
I’m left, however, with the nagging suspicion that under certain circumstances, Gaddafi type figures might be beneficial to humanity as a whole. Consider: crowdsourcing the majority of political decisions would probably satisfy the average utility function of humanity. It’s fair but not to everybody. We have almost such a system today (even though it’s been usurped by corporations). But in times of crisis such as during war, it’s more efficient to have rapid decisions made by a small group of “experts” combined with those who need to make ruthless decisions so we can’t kill the Gaddafis.
What is therefore optimal in my opinion?
I reckon I’d take all the Gaddafis off planet and put them in simulations to be recalled only at times of need and leave sanitized nice people zimbo copies of them. Then I would destroy the ring of power and return to my previous life before I was tempted to torture those who have done me harm in the past.
Now this is the $64 google-illion question!
I don’t agree that the null hypothesis: take the ring and do nothing with it is evil. My definition of evil is coercion leading to loss of resources up to and including loss of one’s self. Thus absolute evil is loss of one’s self across humanity which includes as one use case humanity’s extinction (but is not limited to humanity’s extinction obviously because being converted into zimboes isn’t technically extinction..)
Nobody can argue that the likes of Gaddafi exist in the human population: those who are interested in being the total boss of others (even thought they add no value to the lives of others) to the extent that they are willing to kill to maintain their boss position.
I would define these people as evil or with evil intent. I would thus state that I would like under no circumstances somebody like this to grab the ring of power and thus I would be compelled to grab it myself.
The conundrum is that I fit the definition of evil myself. Though I don’t seek power to coerce as an end in itself I would like the power to defend myself against involuntary coercion.
So I see a Gaddafi equivalent go to grab the ring and I beat him to it.
What do I do next?
Well I can’t honestly say that I have the right to kill the millions of Gaddafi equivalent but I think that on average they add a net negative to the utility of humanity.
I’m left, however, with the nagging suspicion that under certain circumstances, Gaddafi type figures might be beneficial to humanity as a whole. Consider: crowdsourcing the majority of political decisions would probably satisfy the average utility function of humanity. It’s fair but not to everybody. We have almost such a system today (even though it’s been usurped by corporations). But in times of crisis such as during war, it’s more efficient to have rapid decisions made by a small group of “experts” combined with those who need to make ruthless decisions so we can’t kill the Gaddafis.
What is therefore optimal in my opinion? I reckon I’d take all the Gaddafis off planet and put them in simulations to be recalled only at times of need and leave sanitized nice people zimbo copies of them. Then I would destroy the ring of power and return to my previous life before I was tempted to torture those who have done me harm in the past.